Lambda Legal Sues U.S. State Department on Behalf of Intersex Citizen Denied Passport | Lambda Legal

Lambda Legal today filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. State Department on behalf of an intersex client, Dana Zzyym, denied a U.S. passport because Dana could not accurately choose either male or female on the passport application form, and the form does not provide any other gender marker designation.

Though many intersex people identify as male or female, some – like Dana – do not.,,,

Dana, who uses the gender-neutral pronouns “they,” “them” and “their,” was born with ambiguous sex characteristics. Shortly after Dana’s birth, their parents and doctor decided to raise them as a boy. As a result, Dana underwent several irreversible, painful and medically unnecessary surgeries that didn’t work, traumatized Dana and left them with severe scarring.

It was only many years later, after serving six years in the U.S. Navy and then attending Colorado State University, where they also worked as a custodian, that Dana began researching the surgeries and came to understand they had been born intersex. Drawing on personal experience, Dana began educating the public about issues facing intersex people. Dana currently serves as associate director for the United States affiliate of the Organisation Intersex International (OII-USA).

As part of their work, Dana was invited to attend the International Intersex Forum in Mexico City in October, 2014, at which time Dana applied for a U.S. passport. The application requires that the applicant select a gender marker of either ‘male’ or ‘female.’ It also requires first-time applicants to submit a birth certificate, which in Dana’s case lists their sex as “unknown.”

Notwithstanding the information on their birth certificate and the fact that Dana’s doctors with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirm their gender as intersex, Dana’s application for a passport was denied.

Lambda Legal Sues U.S. State Department on Behalf of Intersex Citizen Denied Passport | Lambda Legal

UPDATED: After Hobby Lobby, Seven Top LGBT And Civil Rights Orgs Drop Support For ENDA - The New Civil Rights Movement

This is huge,,,

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Transgender Law Center and Pride at Work are some of the biggest civil rights groups if not the biggest that help the LGBTI community. For them to discard ENDA, something big is up.
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After 40 years, the LGBT community in part has decided that not only is ENDA not good enough, it's potentially dangerous because the legislation contains strong carve outs for religious organizations. In the wake of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling, ENDA could become a license to discriminate rather than the legal protection it was designed to be.

In a dramatic move today, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announced it was dropping support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Hours later, a coalition of five LGBT legal and civil rights groups -- the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and the Transgender Law Center -- made a similar announcement. (Pride at Work announced they are dropping support after this article was published -- see below.)

The coalition of five groups calls their request "a simple one."

"Do not give religiously affiliated employers a license to discriminate against LGBT people when they have no such right to discriminate based on race, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information," the group say in a joint statement just released. "Religiously affiliated organizations are allowed to make hiring decisions based on their religion, but nothing in federal law authorizes discrimination by those organizations based on any other protected characteristic, and the rule should be the same for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Religious organizations are free to choose their ministers or faith leaders, and adding protections for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression will not change that."

UPDATED: After Hobby Lobby, Seven Top LGBT And Civil Rights Orgs Drop Support For ENDA - The New Civil Rights Movement

92-Year-Old Transgender Widow Fights for Social Security The Seattle Lesbian

Lambda Legal is representing Robina Asti, a 92-year-old transgender woman who was denied survivor benefits by the Social Security Administration (SSA) after her husband’s death. The agency denied her benefits after it determined that she was “legally male” at the time of their marriage despite all the legal documents to the contrary.

“Robina’s husband passed away over a year-and-a-half ago, and at 92 years old, she should not have to wait another day for the benefits to which she is entitled,” said Dru Levasseur, Transgender Rights Project Director. “The government has recognized Robina as a woman for over 30 years, including on her passport, FAA pilot’s license and her driver’s license. For the federal government to deny her survivor benefits now is inexplicable. This remarkable woman should not have had the grief of losing the love of her life compounded by the insult of having her gender and marriage disrespected.”

92-Year-Old Transgender Widow Fights for Social Security The Seattle Lesbian